YEREVAN (Combined Sources)—An officer of the Armenian Army, Hrant Poghosyan, was shot and killed on Monday by Azeri forces on the border, the press office of the Armenian Ministry of Defense reported. The attack coincided with a visit from the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs to Baku.
“This incident is another illustration of the fact that, ignoring the calls of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs, the Azerbaijani side maintains its constant policy of violating the truce, especially on the days the mediators are visiting the region,” the Ministry said in a statement.
“Committed to the calls for restraint voiced by the Minsk Group Co-Chairs in early November, and following Defense Minister Seyran Ohanyan’s instructions, the Armenian side has not fired a single shot since,” the Ministry said, adding that “in light of the recent incident, the actions of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Armenia will be preventative and strict.”
The Armenian Ministry of Defense shares the sorrow of the heavy loss and expresses its sympathy to Hrant Poghosyan’s family and friends.
Recurring violence
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev seems intent on marking every milestone of international Nagorno Karabakh mediation with a new round of fatal cross-border attacks.
Today, as OSCE (The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe) Minsk Group Co-Chairs visited Baku, Azerbaijani forces killed Hrant Poghosyan. Last June, during then U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s visit to Armenia, Azerbaijan killed three Armenians on the border.
The same Baku regime that demonizes, blockades, and so callously kills the Armenians of Artsakh has no claim to governance over the free citizens of this democratic republic. The international community should appreciate the depth of the Azerbaijani government’s toxic anger and aggressiveness, recognize this self-evident truth and extend to the Republic of Nagorno Karabakh the same state-level recognition deserved by all the free nations of the earth.
Continuing talks
Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian recently received the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs Igor Popov (Russia), Jacques Faure (France) and James Warlick (US) and the Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairman-in-Office Andrzej Kasprzyk.
In light of recent talks between the Armenian and Azerbaijani presidents in Vienna on Nov. 19 and foreign ministers in Kiev on Dec. 4, Nalbandian and the Co-Chairs discussed continuing efforts to further the process of the peaceful settlement of the Karabakh issue.
The Armenian Foreign Minister called the attention of the Co-Chairs to the death of an Armenian soldier at the hands of the Azeri side near the Tavush region.
The Minister underlined that despite the calls of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairing countries about the necessity of reinforcing confidence-building measures, not only servicemen, but also civilians still fall victim to the constant ceasefire violations from the Azerbaijani side at the Armenian-Azerbaijani border and at the border between Nagorno Karabakh and Azerbaijan.
Nalbandian stressed that such provocations hinder the efforts of the Co-Chairs and Armenia towards peaceful settlement.
During the meeting the parties discussed prospects of organizing a new meeting between the Foreign Ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan at the beginning of next year.
President Serzh Sarkisian on Monday received the Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group.
The Co-Chairs presented the results of their negotiations in Baku and discussed with the President of Armenia possible future meetings at the presidential and ministerial levels to be held in the framework of the Nagorno Karabakh peace process.
Why do we participate in round of peace talks if this happens we should just walk out of the peace talks until we can get guarantees.
were is this going man how will this end, they killed an officer, they also killed a few other armenian soldiers the last few months. this is not normal peace is just forced away from our hands, this OSCE as usual will just come and go Armenia will likely keep on condeming and warning and saying this wont stay unanswered.
There is no other peace to the Artsakh situation the people of Artsakh just can not live together with Azeris history has proven this multiple times they just keep on their anti-Armenian movements.
the world does not care about the innocent people that die like gurgen margaryan who was killed by ramil safarov. and many other soldiers who were captured and tortured to death in baku or killed by a sniper on the border even Hillary Clinton didn’t do shit.
they claim Armenians around the world as enemy, they even threatened their own people that support armenians, writen false informations about armenians everyday a new propaganda is created in azerbaijan against the armenians.
you saw how clinton and many people from all countries cheered up and were happy how gaddafi was tortured to death this proves that people are just wild animols savages.
Were was the world when they massacred the armenians a multiple hamidian massacres 1895, Armenian Genocide 1915? and the massacres in sumgait,baku,maraga,Kirovabad nobody did anything.
it is like their life mission to destroy Armenia they denounce the fact of the armenian genocide just becouse they consider us as enemy they create their own false genocide to use it against us and trying brainwash the whole world.
they even launched a new well funded tv channel in 5 languages with lots of good shows movies to take people’s attention.
and in their 5 languages including armenian not becouse they love but to spread their propaganda in 5 languages.
nobody care about the justice they only care about Azerbaijan oil.
Armenians around the whole world should stand up march towards the recognition for the independence of artsakh we must urge countrys that Artsakh can not live with Azeris and the only peace solution is recognition of artsakh’s independence!!!!!
or else more soldiers,officers,people will die! WE MUST ACT!!!
If we dont act we will just lose everything, and our history will be repeating it self again!
Hot air coming from the west… If the great powers wanted to end this they could have implemented some economic restrictions (like they are doing to Iran) to force Azerbaidjan to accept a few concessions. These whole OSCE meetings seems bs to me!
I don’t understand why Armenia does not do the following to stop Azeri aggression:
To stop Azeri aggression and violation all we have to do just damage one of the pipelines that goes from North of Armenia to Georgia, and let them know that after each violation something like that will be done. That would make them to stop.
We know they live by the sword- kill or get killed- time to take a bunch of them mongrols OUT
So long as the Azeri side is successful in shooting and killing Armenian soldiers, any “counter action” from the Armenian side seems ineffectual and impotent. Had the Armenian response been truly punishing with devastating result no Azeri bullet would fly towards Armenian positions. This means that the Armenian army is not in a position to inflict painful damage. What a shame!
Axerbaijan is lawless corrupted oil Sheikhdom and nobody knows who is governing this fake nation …the only language they will understand, when Armenian commandos kill all those terrorists and destroy their hide outs!
Another visit by co – chairmen of the OSCE Minsk Group to Azerbaijan and another citizen of Armenia murdered under their noses and in broad daylight. Haven’t we seen this before? Unfortunately, yes, and many times. It seems that the Azeri snipers can shoot-to-kill Armenians at the border at will, as though they were lame ducks. And what will be the response this time?Never mind the useless co-chairmen, who will have the gall to call upon BOTH sides to ” refrain from escalating the situation”. What about the Armenian side? According to the statement by the Ministry of Defense of the Republic of Armenia, the Armenian side is commited to the restraint voiced by the OSCE Minsk Group and is following the orders of Defense Minister Seyran Ohanyan not to fire a single shot. Unlike in previous instances, they neglected to mention the standard ” an appropriate response will be forthcoming in the near future”. But of course no response in any shape or form is forthcoming, just like no appropriate response has ever been visited upon this type of transgressions by the enemy, otherwise we would have somehow heard about it by now. And so the hunt goes on. I don’t know what kind of logic dictates Mr. Ohanyan, or Armenian authorities for that matter, to keep sacrificing the precious lives of young Armenian solders for political expediency. Those who so bravely fought in the Artsakh Liberation War should know better than hope that their civilized behavior will be reciprocated by their unrepentant, bloodthirsty adversary. The only way they will stop hunting, is when they themselves become the hunted.
P.S. Dear Asbarez,
Is the sniper in the accompanying picture an Armenian or an Azeri? I believe you have posted this same image previously, when writing about similar incidents. I don’t believe you would have used the picture of an Azeri sniper for this article, but even if the solder is Armenian, I would still question the appropriateness of using it here, since an Armenian solder was killed by an Azeri sniper, not vice versa.
Harry B.
Another Armenian soldier lost his life for sniper attack. Armenia must find a solution to this issue .It is not an easy issue to maintain peace talks while being provoked by the AZERI WHORES. Anyone who believes in peace negotiations with Azeri side must be SATAN follower. Armenia must learn from the tricks of trade from Azeris EYE for an EYE .
Don’t complain !!! Kill 2 Azeris…
Those filthy s u b h u m a n hyenas want a WAR lets freaking give them one, this time no stopping until we reach baku, enough!!!!!!!!!
Let them pay blood money to this family (Poghosyan)
who lost their young clever son…
while serving to protect his ancient land..
I wonder…Where is the Human rights…!!!
Ну сколько можно писать об убийствах армянских солдат азербайджанскими киллерами? Ваши публикации невольно угнетают национальное самосознание и помогают врагам. Хочется прочитать какие ответные действия предприняла армянская сторона и каких результатов добилась. Иначе не публикуйте констатации беспомощности и беззащитности наших соотечественников перед наглым врагом в мирное время.
The Armenian authorities should respond severely.Enough already.
Sad the first Christian nation Mt. Ararat where God gave man a second chance and our Christian Bretheran around the world don’t even lift a finger to help!
It is clear as day what the Turlic Muslem tribes are planning to do and Christian Armenia stand in there way!
Sad! The first Christian nation Mt. Ararat where God gave man a second chance and our Christian Bretheran around the world don’t even lift a finger to help!
It is clear as day what the Turlic Muslem tribes are planning to do and Christian Armenia stand in there way!
How about we kill a few of them too?? This is getting ridiculous. We cant keep getting killed!! Our standing army is tiny compared to theirs! Where the fuck is this heading??
Define “them” – did you mean 18 yo ethnic Lezgi, Tolysh, Avar conscripts that Turkish occupants force to serve on the border?
Mediators should try harder, It’s hard to stay put with an S hole like Ilham Aliyev, the officer of the Armenian Army Hrant Poghosyan, was shot and killed on Monday by Azeri forces on the border, WHY?
This is what happens every time these “mediators” come. And every time they come they issue a statement calling BOTH(Sic) sides of the conflict to restrain hostilities.
I strongly believe that the answers to this puzzle are hidden in small print of BIG OIL corporate reports estimating future profits from the pipelines they run through Armenian lands occupied by Turks.
Look, Armenian army is around the same as Azerbaijan..in fact it might be a bit bigger. (All the tanks +20k troops are in Artsahk.) And we kill them too, in fact we kill alot of them. This is different. Both parties agreed to remove armed troops from the border/snipers but this time Azerbaijan did not comply. They must pay, and they will. Azeri soldiers are drunkard racist idiots. They have no common sense, and they are war mongers. Things will change. Azerbaijan will go to far, if they start an artillery barge, Russia will wipe them off the map
Peace talks with the Azeri’s is a waste of time. When is the Armenian Government going to wake up and incorporate Artsakh as part of historical Armenia. Armenia should be working with Russia on this issue, after all it was Soviet Russia when Stalin gave much of our historical lands away. Javakh was given to the Georgians, since Stalin was a Georgian himself, Nakhichevan & Artsakh he gave to the Azeri’s, and Kars & Ardahan to the Turks. These issues are never brought to the table and our organizations must discuss these with the Armenian Embassy so that they can bring it up to the American Government as well to the United Nations. We are too slow on these issues. The enemy is winning while we take a back seat.